Chicago, IL – The Chicago Cubs bolstered their rotation on hander Paul Maholm on a one-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal for the former Pittsburgh Pirate also includes a club option for the 2013 campaign.
The 29-year-old hurler is coming off perhaps his most frustrating season in the majors, as he went just 6-14 last year despite a 3.66 earned run average in 26 starts for Pittsburgh. Maholm allowed three earned runs or less in 19 of his starts and two earned runs or less in more than half of his outings (14 of 26), but came away with a win only six times despite a 1.44 ERA in those 14 games.
As was the case for most of his seven years with the Pirates, run support was an issue last season, as the team scored an average of 3.38 runs-per-game for him, which was the fifth-lowest mark in the National League.
Starting with his first big league season in 2006, Maholm has averaged 4.25 runs of support per nine innings pitched, the fourth-lowest mark in all of baseball in that span. At the same time, he is one of only six major league southpaws to throw at least 1,100 innings the last six years.
Selected by the Pirates with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 2003 draft, Maholm posted a 53-73 mark with the Bucs to go along with a 4.36 ERA in 185 starts. He made 29 or more starts in five-consecutive campaigns from 2006-10 before making 26 starts last season.
